Phoenix
by ribby97
Summary: Alek and Deryn become caught up in a race against time to prevent the Germans from completing their devastating new Clanker weapon. As Leviathan, the living airship, scurries across land and sea, it finds its usual share of adventure. We also find a third pair of eyes, which will be able to show you the story of the Great War from a very different angle.
1. Duel

Chapter 1: Duel

**Please note that a horizontal line indicates a change in perspective. I'm not trying to patronize you, dear reader, and I'm sure you'd have worked it out by yourself but it's better to make sure. Right?**

* * *

The Leviathan was an airship, quite possibly the greatest vessel in the British air force and certainly the oldest. It was not a craft of mere steel and wood, no; the Leviathan was, like all the war machines of the Darwinists, a creature of flesh and blood. It appeared in the sky as a gargantuan monster and indeed its life-threads had been taken from a whale.

Unlike a whale however, the Leviathan belonged to a class of _Animalia _called _Spiraculum Hydrogeni_, more commonly known as hydrogen breather ,and was home to almost one thousand other species. It wasn't so much one creature, serving as a ship, but rather a complex web of life, which fitted together more neatly than clockwork. From far off however, all that could be seen was an immense shadow swimming lazily through the clouds, its deep mauve skin appearing black in the night.

* * *

Dylan dived wildly forwards, frantically lunging with his training sabre. Although masks hid both combatants' faces, each wore an expression of concentrated determination. Alek had expected to win easily, and was surprised but also pleasantly exhilarated to see how much Dylan's training with Count Volger had led him to improve.

Alek parried blow after blow, causing Dylan's frustration to mount as he firmly repelled each aggressive strike, each hopeful assault. The riposte he attempted in return came very close to striking his target and he smirked privately to himself as his defensive stance held strong. However, as soon as he allowed his confidence to grow, Dylan twisted his blade slightly and struck from a completely new angle, forcing Alek to dive out of the way.

Instead of the graceful leap that he had intended, Alek barely managed to stay standing as he stumbled backwards. He stared hard at Dylan, sure that he was able to sense the air of smugness that _he _now radiated.

The two were very evenly matched, though Alek was by far the more experienced of the two, having trained from a young age. The battleground however, suited Dylan much more than it did him, for he still felt unsteady in the strong wind that swept across the Leviathan's spine and buffeted against them, freezing cold, especially at night.

Dylan, on the other hand looked as steady as a rock, advancing confidently. Then again, of course he did; he was a soldier after all. Although Alek was a prince, and of a much higher social status than Dylan, he couldn't help but idolise the boy in some ways, wishing he was soldier material himself.

Somehow, especially up here on the Leviathan, where it seemed that knowing which knot to tie was more important than being able to speak three or four different languages, Alek could not help but feel bettered by Dylan. Well, at least he'd show him who the better_ swordsman _was!

* * *

Deryn smiled to herself as she stepped towards her opponent; this was going much better than she had expected. Suddenly Alek's posture changed and he quickly came in on the offensive. His sword came for her in a fast and savage swipe, which she was barely able to parry. _Wait a second_, a _swipe_? That wasn't exactly a conventional fencing move.

Simultaneously, and without a word spoken between them, they each came to the understanding that the rules had changed. Their spar had quickly abandoned the strict limitations of fencing; what they were now doing seemed more like sword-fighting.

Beads of sweat dripped down Deryn's face. This bloody mask! Sure it did a good job of protecting her face but it was also barking stifling.

Alek seemed to be struggling just as much as she was, however. Both were becoming less precise and wilder in the hope that one of their actions would manage to take their opponent by surprise and bring the battle to an end.

Deryn tilted her hand, striking low, towards Alex's legs. Her blade struck metal however, as Alek blocked yet another attack, and she grunted in frustration. Her annoyance turned to surprise when she saw her opponent's response.

The blade of his sabre sang as it slid along the length of hers, then at the last second he twisted his wrist a fraction, the blade jumping away from the guard at the end of her sword, before swishing back and smacking against her fingers.

She yelped as her sabre was knocked out of her hands. Alek instinctively ran forwards to catch it, but it had already fallen too far and was sliding across the smooth, deep purple skin of the great hydrogen-breather that made up the main body of the Leviathan.

As Deryn's eyes followed the sword's descent, she was aghast to see that Alek was still running towards it, and for a precious second she froze. Then she was after him, scampering down the side of the airbeast, half running and half sliding, using ropes lashed around the beast to control her fall.

Alek was now mere metres away from her; the way that he was moving was far less controlled and she could already see that he wasn't going to be able to stop himself. Quickly her arm reached out and grabbed his jacket, pulling him back. His expression was frozen in horror, his arm still extended as though to catch the weapon, even as it tumbled down towards the deep indigo of the ocean below them, gone forever.

* * *

To his immense (and unwelcome) surprise, Alek found himself jerked suddenly backwards and, as the sword fell into the sea, he gave a sigh, and turned angrily to find Dylan holding onto his clothes. They each stood very carefully, using the ropes as a ledge to stand on whilst they clung to the Leviathan's side.

"Look what you've done now!" he cried, frustrated at the loss of one of his swords, which had been given to him by his father.

"Only gone and saved your barking life!" Dylan snapped indignantly.

"Well in case you hadn't noticed, I didn't need to be saved. You just lost my father's sword." As he said this, Alek indicated to the ocean, where his sword now presumably lay, left to rust at the bottom of the sea.

"_I _lost it? In case you hadn't noticed, _you're_ the one that knocked the sword out of _my _hand!"

"Well if you'd been holding it properly, you'd have been able to keep hold of it."

"You know what? You really are a dummkopf!"

"Oh yeah? Well you're a... you're a barking ninny!"

At this trade of insults from the opposite's dialect, the pair burst out laughing and Alek smiled, happy to see how strong their friendship had become during his time aboard the airship. He sat side by side with Dylan, content to just sit and stare down into the inky depths of the sea.

* * *

Deryn followed Alek's gaze, before realizing that he wasn't looking at anything in particular, and then joining him in his idle scanning of the ocean. The scenery changed little as the airbeast slowly travelled wherever the war required its presence. Suddenly her eyes were drawn to something white, which stood out amongst the darkness of the waves. She gasped.

As soon as she spotted it, the white object disappeared. She stared hard at that patch of sea, which annoyingly remained completely clear. She had thought for a second that she'd seen an enormous bubble, but her brain was already dismissing the idea, for if her original suspicion — that some creature was lurking in the depths beneath them — had been correct, then why would there only have been a single bubble when it breathed? No, what she had seen could only have been a wave breaking- it was becoming very windy after all.

Alek had heard her reaction and he nudged her. "Are you okay?" he questioned, a concerned expression plain to see on his face.

"Yeah...It was nothing," she replied sheepishly.

Alek looked doubtful. "If there _was_ something wrong, you _would_ tell me, wouldn't you? Remember, we don't keep secrets from eachother anymore."

"Yes of course," Deryn said, the lie trickling easily off her tongue.

Nowadays, it seemed that lying was almost as natural to her as breathing or sleeping. She hated to think of herself as deceitful, but after all, she had deceived everyone in order to earn her place as a soldier aboard the Leviathan. As she said those words to Alek however, she felt a terrible pang of guilt, stronger than any of those she'd experienced before.

She could stand lying to the others, even Newkirk, for that was necessary if she were to stay in the air, but lying to Alek felt horrible and very, very wrong. If only she could tell him the truth! No, she'd made her decision on her day of recruitment, where she'd escaped a dreary life of sitting, sewing, and simpering, and forged herself a new life, full of adventure. She was not about to throw all this away for some barking prince!

As Alek returned to his cabin, Deryn sat there for a while longer, looking up at the tiny sliver of crescent moon and the faint pinpricks of the few stars that could be seen.

* * *

**This was something really new for me and I had a blast writing this. Please review, I'd really like some feedback for this piece of writing.**


	2. Morning

Felix still could still not quite believe that he was truly stood aboard the _Kriegspfad. _It just seemed too unreal, too unbelievably lucky that he should end up serving aboard one of the finest battleships in the German fleet. And considering the luck he'd had recently, the idea that he'd be one of the few chosen out of hundreds of applicants for this privileged role had seemed highly unlikely.

Of course, he was a very low rank, the patch sewn to the beige shirt of his uniform marked him out as an _Untermaschinist_: The least important type of mechanic. The badge was meticulously sewn to his shirt, an act that had taken him a great deal of time and had required painstakingly work with a needle and thread. It was oval-shaped and black, featuring a crown above an anchor, surrounded by gears, all in bronze stitching.

He yawned as he finished oiling the cogs that worked the main kraken-fighting arms and then pulled from his pocket a cloth, dabbing it into a bottle of clear lotion before proceeding to wipe the weapon itself, carefully and methodically cleaning the huge metallic struts. He looked up at the weak, pale red sun as it woke to face the dawn.

Heavy footsteps signified the arrival of the boatswain, who was by no means a skinny man. Another of his many undesirable traits was that he seemed to have no control over the volume at which he spoke, choosing to talk as loudly as possible all of the time.

"Keep it up lad! You heard what the captain said, he wants this ship gleaming from top to bottom! I can't see my face in that metal yet!" Saying this he tapped a finger on the metal in front of Felix.

Felix found himself feeling annoyed and slightly patronized by the man's words; could he not see how hard he was working? Feeling rebellious, he replied "I don't see why it's important sir! It's not as if the Darwinists are going to turn their krakens around when they see how clean the fighting arms are."

"Enough of your cheek boy!" The boatswain practically growled, his face going an unflattering colour, similar to that of a beetroot. "These are the captain's orders! Besides, it's not for the enemy; we'll be docking in Italy soon, to pick up a very important passenger."

"What kind of passenger?"

"That's a military secret, if you want to know you'll have to take it up with the captain, or alternatively you could try asking Kaiser Wilhelm." He laughed heartily at this joke, causing Felix to frown a little.

He didn't see what harm there would be in telling him, since there was no way he would be able to leave the ship until they arrived in Germany, by which time everyone would know anyway, but he did not want to try arguing with the boatswain again. It wasn't worth the risk. He was only a lower mechanic after all, and it wasn't as if he particularly _needed _to know.

* * *

Alek was sat in his cabin eating breakfast, enthusiastically tucking into a delicious plate of...

Well he didn't really know _exactly_ what it was: some sort of fabricated Darwinist muck no doubt. Which boffin in their right mind had decided that turning scrambled eggs _blue _was a bright, or even acceptable, idea? If eggs could be made to contain more nutrition then that was fine by him, but if the colour had to be sacrificed in order to make that change then he'd take the substandard variety any day. It just wasn't natural.

Slowly, he raised the tin mug in front of him and took a large sip of tea.

"Aleksandar," a loud, clear, female voice called, right into his ear, causing him to almost drop the mug in surprise. He looked over his shoulder, and the shock became even greater as he discovered that the speaker was sat perched on his shoulder, and was also a small green lizard.

"Message start," the lizard spoke again, and Alek shuddered at the way its mouth moved as the words tumbled out of its mouth, in the voice of Dr Barlow. If there was one thing about the Darwinists that confused him above all it was their strange desire to create talking animals. They were just so creepy!

"Hello Alek, this is Doctor Barlow. Hopefully I didn't disturb you. The captain would like you and your men to spend some time looking at the engines you installed. They're still working, but one was giving off black smoke earlier and some of the crew are concerned that there's a risk of it exploding. Most likely they're talking rubbish but I'm sure I don't need to tell you what a devastating effect such an explosion would have."

To Alek's annoyance, the lizard remained perched on his shoulder, so cautiously he reached out for the creature and, with the fingers of one hand, dislodged it, flicking it onto the tabletop. He grimaced as it scuttled away.

"Darned talking animals," he muttered.

"Talking animals," repeated a voice, this one sounding very much like his, though slightly softer. The small face of his perspicacious loris appeared from behind the bed, looking up at him with its large eyes, wearing, as it always did, an innocent but knowing expression.

"Not you Bovril," Alek said, tickling the small monkey-like creature under its chin with one hand whilst the other buried itself in its soft pale fur. "You're all right."

"All right," repeated the voice. It didn't sound sarcastic, questioning, or offended, but that was simply because the loris could only repeat words and phrases that it had heard, and in the way that they'd been said. The meaning was still conveyed however, and Alek smiled.

"Someone's a bit full of himself today," Alek chuckled, scratching Bovril's ears, an action which always made the creature purr with contentment. Today was no different, and Alek listened to the quiet rumble of his pet. He would have been content to sit there all morning, but for the matter of the engines, which needed his attention, and promptly.

As he left his cabin, Alek smiled to himself. Maybe he wasn't so useless after all.

* * *

Deryn held tightly onto the leash, struggling to control the misshapen creature that tugged on the other end. The hydrogen sniffer scuttled ahead on its six spindly legs, practically dragging her along. She'd never seen one so eager before, they were usually fairly calm even in the proximity of a hydrogen leak in the airship, no matter how large or dangerous said leak was. What could possibly have got this one so worked up?

"There, there beastie. It's alright," she cooed, attempting to soothe the creature, with limited success.

At that moment Alek rounded the corner, Bovril perched on top of his shoulder. The loris's fur bristled at the sight of the animal she was restraining, and it quickly climbed higher, trying to put as much distance between it and the creature's sharp teeth. It came to a halt on Alek's head, and sat perched there, staring nervously down at the hydrogen sniffer.

"Darned animals," it quietly muttered.

Well that explained the reason for the sniffer's restlessness, for when it saw Bovril its eyes lit up, and both of its doglike mouths were thrown open in a ferocious snarl.

"Hush!" she snapped, yanking hard on the rope.

At the sound of her voice Bovril looked down and saw her. It tittered and then spoke. "_Mr _Sharp," it said.

Deryn glared at the smug-looking animal. Of all the phrases that could have stuck with the loris, why oh why did it have to choose that one? It was bad enough that Count Volger knew her secret, without this creature going around hinting at it all of the time.

At least the wildcount could be trusted not to go babbling clues, not until he stood to gain from it in some way, at any rate. If this sort of behavior had been what Dr Barlow was talking about when she'd named the creature "perspicacious" then she could see why the sultan of the Ottoman Empire hadn't accepted it as a gift.

"Oh, hi Dylan," Alek said, apparently oblivious to the way Bovril spoke when it said her name (though Deryn couldn't see how this was possible). "I'm heading over to the stern."

"Oh yes?" she said, jovially. "I saw the boffin talking to a message lizard; what's she got you doing now?"

"Apparently they're having trouble with one of the engines," he replied. "I must dash; I need to find Bauer and Hoffman, and quickly. Apparently it's quite important." He seemed to be trying to put emphasis on how crucial his task was, without making it too obvious that this was what he was doing.

"Hurry up then! We wouldn't want the ship to explode would we?"She said teasingly

Alek smiled at the gentle jibe, replying with his own. "You're right, I should be off. Enjoy your walk. Wait a _second; isn't_ that job usually reserved for the common riggers?"He smiled slyly.

Alek was right of course; normally checking for hydrogen leaks was a task for the riggers, but there'd been a lot of illness recently, meaning that some of the officers had had to take a turn, and she, being the most recently promoted, was a prime candidate for the job

Just because he was right, it didn't mean he could get away with teasing her about it. She stuck her tongue out and accidentally-on-purpose bumped into him as she passed and continued her patrol.

**Thanks for reading! :) Edit: Had to make a minor change due to a small matter of geography.**


	3. An Important Passenger

**This is a little longer than the previous chapters. Sorry if that bothers you- I know it annoys me when chapter sizes differ to greatly.**

* * *

The small crew of five stood gathered around the faulty Stormwalker engine, occasionally tinkering with the detailed inner workings of the adapted machine. They had quickly identified the issue and were now discussing how best to go about their task. Clearly the leader of the operation was (or should have been) Otto Klopp, whose experience had served him well many times in the past in similar situations.

During the time that Alek had spent in hiding in Switzerland, Klopp had been his piloting and 'mechaniks' tutor. The old man was one of the few aboard the ship who treated Alek like proper royalty, and, despite the fact that he clearly already knew exactly what to do, he waited for Alek to instruct the proceedings. Kind though Klopp was, subtlety was not one of his strengths by any means, and Alek soon realized what he was doing, though he was touched by the gesture.

Once reparations were underway, Alek was in second-heaven. It was as though beforehand he had not truly been alive. As his fingers worked their way through the engines, adjusting this, removing and replacing that, the ecstatic feeling he experienced was similar to that of a man who had turned blind several years ago waking up to find his sight suddenly restored.

Truth be told, Alek was a little lost, for all three of his men (Bauer, Hoffman and Klopp) had served his family in ways that had led to them spending a great deal of time around machinery such as this, and they worked like frenzied bees. He was however, much more at home that Mr. Hirst, the Leviathan's chief mechanic, who looked extremely out of place, and utterly bewildered.

Occasionally one of the others would look up at the native mechanic with a suspicious glare, and when he realized this it caused Alek to subconsciously trace a finger down the line that ran along his arm, a faint pink scar. He remembered how the poor man had accidentally shot him when he'd thought that they were committing mutiny. Klopp especially, had never forgiven him for that.

Finally everything was finished. Just one more fresh part remained. Painstakingly slowly, Klopp lowered the gear into place. Just before he slotted it into a gap which was the perfect shape and size for the component, he gave a warning.

"Look out, my friends," he said in German, not bothering to translate for the sake of Mr Hirst. "This is going to kick a bit."

Then he gently pressed it into place, pulling his fingers away very quickly as, with a horrible screeching of metal and a shower of sparks, the cogs began to turn. The noise startled Bovril, who was sitting on a nearby crate, watching and listening to the men working. He took off like a shot, scampering to the other side of the ship.

"Bovril, come back!" he called after it, but to no avail. "Daft creature," he commented to the others in good-humour.

Hoffman, watching the animal's swift departure, smiled. "You wouldn't have this problem with a machine, sir. Honestly, sometimes I swear you're turning Darwinist."

He wore a small smirk upon seeing Alek's frown, until Klopp gave him a sharp nudge, reminding him of his place.

* * *

Deryn knocked sharply on the door of Captain Volger's cabin, a glum look plastered across her face.

Delivering the newspaper to Volger had never exactly been her favourite chore, for she disliked the man for the way he behaved towards Alek, but under the current circumstances, she had come to despise it. The knowing look that he gave her when she came in serving as a constant reminder that all it would take to undermine her concealment was a few words.

The man finally opened the door, a stern look on his face. His expression softened a fraction when he saw her.

"Ah, Deryn. Do come in."

Deryn gave him a hard look, which he pointedly ignored. "If you don't mind, Volger, I'll just pass this on and leave. After all, it wouldn't do for me to get used to the warmth when I'm expected to spend most of the day out here."

He raised an eyebrow, taking the newspaper with one hand. He held the door firmly with the other, preventing her from closing it and departing. "Oh but I do mind!" he insisted. "What harm can it do? Look, I just made coffee, it'll do you good."

Deryn glared, and was about to say something that she would probably regret later, when a sniff behind her sounded, interrupting her. Turning around, she at first saw nobody. Upon lowering her gaze however, she spotted Bovril standing on his hind legs. The creature looked pitiful as it scrabbled at her ankles, and though she knew better than to trust Bovril's expression, she gave in, crouching down to give him the opportunity to leap up onto her shoulder.

The creature landed, and then lost its footing, almost plummeting back to the ground. Ever so quickly, her hand reached out to steady it. "Woah there beastie!" she said soothingly. The loris chattered nervously, his mouth very close to her ear, amplifying his voice.

Turning back to the count, she noticed with amusement a hint of alarm in his expression. Volger kept his eyes fixed on the beast, looking at it with distrust. She smiled smugly, realizing what her next course of action would be. He wanted to be all polite and play games like this? Well then, that was fine with her.

"Actually, I think I will take up your offer after all, Count,"

She felt immensely satisfied to see the range of emotions flicker across his face. His initial expression was one of surprise, but with his sudden realization this changed, becoming aghast at the thought of sharing his cabin with a fabricated creature. Finally his features shifted back to their normal arrangement, and he once again became completely unreadable. Even so, she thought she recognised an expectant look in his eyes for a moment, as well as something else. He wasn't _pleased _that she'd gotten the better of him, was he?

"Very well, Deryn." He held the open the door for her, standing aside to let her pass, then indicated for her to sit. He poured out two mugs of black coffee and then placed them down on a small wooden table. He sank into his comfortable-looking armchair, the largest piece of furniture, aside from the bed, in the cabin.

For a long time, neither spoke. Deryn struggled to keep her silence, waiting for Volger to say something, but the man kept quiet, eying her coolly, and occasionally taking a small sip from his mug. Eventually she could no longer bear the tension; she had to break this mute atmosphere, if she stayed silent any longer she'd snap and scream.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well what, Deryn?"

"What did you want? And please don't call me Deryn, somebody could hear you."

"Don't be foolish, Deryn," Volger said and Deryn glowered angry that he was deliberately doing the opposite of what she'd just requested. "There is no-one here but us. How would anyone be able to overhear us? Not even those blasted lizards can get in here."

At this, Deryn raised an eyebrow, a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by Count Volger.

"You doubt me? Let me assure you that I'm correct. As it turns out, the accursed reptiles hate lemon juice, it keeps them well away. So you see, Deryn or Dylan, it makes no difference."

"_Mr _Sharp," Bovril piped up in Volger's sarcastic tone.

For a second the count had the decency to look slightly guilty, for it was from him that Bovril had picked up that phrase. However, he recovered quickly. "Ah yes, the... what was it now? A loris? A most disagreeable animal, I always thought."He noticed her glare and attempted to pacify her

"Look, _Dylan_." He sounded kinder now, gentler. She wasn't going to buy it. "All I need is for you to keep an eye on Alek; you must ensure that he remains safe."

"How am I supposed to do that?" she countered. "I can't watch him all the barking time!"

"You don't have to, just in particularly dangerous situations. You're a bright girl, I'm sure you'll think of something." He paused. "I do care about him you know? Alek, I mean."

She snorted in contempt. "Sure you do; you care about him becoming emperor so that you can manipulate even more people."

For the first time since she had met him, she witnessed Volger become truly angry. He looked as if her words had physically hurt him and he glared at her, his fury plain to see. For once, he wasn't trying to conceal his emotions. His face was like a book, with rage pouring off the pages.

Oops.

Standing, the count pointed a finger at the door, he clenched his jaw, and as he did so his grey moustache bristled. He opened his mouth as though he were about to shout, then managed to get back some of his self-control. The soft way he spoke was somehow more terrible than an angry yell would have been, and far more threatening. "Out... Get. Out. Now" He spoke quietly and deliberately, and Deryn was only too happy to oblige, practically fleeing from the room.

Along with twinges of guilt, two thoughts came to the forefront of Deryn's mind. The first was a relief: Count Volger clearly did care about Alek after all. The second thought set off a mixture of emotions ranging from worry to anticipation: The count was clearly expecting a 'dangerous situation'.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost trod on the small message lizard sitting patiently a good couple of feet away from Volger's door. Sure enough, it had refused to come any closer. Its tiny mouth opened.

"Dylan Sharp, this is the Captain here. If you could come down to the bridge, I'd like a word."

* * *

Technically Italy played a neutral role in the war, despite the country's Darwinism. The port that the Kriegspfad had landed in however, was clearly run by Clankers, being so close to Austria-Hungary. It was dark when they arrived, but blinding beams of white light shone down onto the Kriegspfad as it entered the bay. The battleship came to a halt, and all along its length hatches opened up.

Felix and several other new crew-members hastily ran out onto the concrete platforms on either side, ready to provide assistance. When Felix stepped ashore, he breathed in the cold sharpness of the night air. Then he looked up at the black cranes towering above them, slightly in awe of their great size. As he gazed upwards, one of the tall machines swung around, a great container hooked to it. As it turned, the crane's torch beam swept across him and he scrunched his eyes up as he was dazzled by the bright whiteness. He saw the container land with a loud 'bang' on the deck of the Kriegspfad and immediately several crewmembers ran over to unload it.

Very quickly, that quiet corner of the docks developed into a frantic hive of activity. Thinking back to his previous reflections, Felix realized that he'd been wrong, in the bustle of people loading and unloading supplies and goods, it would have been possible for anyone to jump ship with little fear of being spotted. Indeed, if there had been anyone hoping to slip _aboard_ undetected, this would have presented them with the perfect opportunity.

The noise brought Felix back to his senses, and he was just about to rush off to help, when a man coughed behind him. He turned to see an elderly gentleman with a cane in one hand, and an ornate wooden case in the other, stood in front of an 8-foot, humanoid automaton, which dwarfed both Felix and the man.

The bronze machine held several medium sized wooden crates in its claw-like hands. Now that Felix had had time to examine the automaton more closely, he saw that although its body resembled that of a human, its arms and legs were segmented like an insects, giving it a slightly crab-like appearance.

"Excuse me boy, would you mind awfully, helping me carry some of these on board? I would have put them on the cranes but-" and a loud crash interrupted him as another metal container was dropped onto the deck of the ship. "But, as you can see, they're not exactly careful. I'm sure you'd do a much better job."

"Right you are sir," he replied, with respect, gingerly prising a box from one of the automaton's large, sharp pincers after just a second's hesitation. As his skinny arms and frail figure struggled to support the weight, the man walked alongside him, still chatting amicably, apparently totally oblivious to Felix's exertion

"I'm Wernher Braun. I believe the captain is expecting me?" as he said this, he looked at Felix, slightly concerned.

Felix could only shrug. "The boatswain mentioned an important passenger; he wouldn't tell me who it was though." Felix couldn't help but allow a slight hint of accusation into his tone as he spoke. If the boatswain hadn't been so stubborn then he'd be able to reassure Mr Braun.

Fortunately, one of the higher ranking officials on board caught sight of them at that moment, and he started in surprise. "Ah, Dr Braun. Er...I see you found your way on board then. Terribly sorry that no-one came out to greet you; this whole thing's been a slightly messy operation if you ask me. I'm Mr Gerste, very pleased to meet you."

"Not to worry. This lad here took care of me," he said, and kindly patted Felix on the shoulder.

"Ah, quite," the man said awkwardly, looking at Felix as though he were an inconvenience, or somehow an annoyance. "Good man. Take that down to the cargo deck would you?" Then he turned back to Dr Braun. "If you'll come with me sir, I'll show you to your cabin.

Felix gave a quick salute and then set off to complete the task. He was barged to the side almost immediately by a larger boy, somehow managing to carry the other two crates, _and_ Dr Braun's smaller case. Felix narrowed his eyes, seeing that the carrier was Andreas. He had taken an immediate dislike to the boy, who seemed to take great pride in besting him in any way he could think of, and gave off an air of permanent smugness.

They walked down to the dingy cargo bay in silence; Felix was determined to give him the cold shoulder. They set down their burdens next to each other amongst dozens of dusty wooden crates, containing anything from ammunition to food packets. They left, again without speaking; then went their separate ways.

A few hours later, Felix was lying in his bunk, unable to sleep. He wasn't sure if it was the snoring of those around him that kept him awake, or if his body literally wasn't tired enough to allow him to sink into comfortable oblivion.

Finally, he could no longer cope with just lying there. He figured that stretching his legs might help him to shake this restlessness, and so decided on taking a walk around the ship. If anyone saw him he could claim to be doing one final patrol of the ship, not an uncommon thing for a sailor to do before sleeping. That would also give him an opportunity to check everywhere, and therefore cover more ground.

He'd walked along the entirety of the deck; the cross-hatched metal had been freezing cold against his bare feet, and he'd somehow felt as though he were breaking some untold rule. He was about to head back, when a sudden sound made him stop and listen. Was someone else awake, stumbling around in the darkness?

Felix quickly found the direction that the noise had come from, and traced it to the door of the cargo hold. Nervously, he hesitated at the entrance. It was almost pitch-black inside, as many of the lights below deck were unneeded at this time of night.

He quickly scampered down the steps and crouched behind a large box. Someone was definitely in here with him; he could hear the sounds of their movements, the rustle of their clothes, their _breathing_. Could they hear the same noises from him?

With that thought in mind, Felix stayed as still as he could. He attempted to breathe quietly, but fear was causing his heart to beat so loudly that he was sure it was audible to everyone on board.

Peering over the edge of the box, Felix saw in horror the dark silhouette of a man. He froze, unable to look away, and watched as the man bent down, opening up one of the crates, and taking something out of it. As he grew more accustomed to the dark, Felix noticed that the man was holding something in his right hand. Was that a sword? This could only mean one thing: sabotage.

With a loud yell, Felix ran at the man, diving into him, and sending him sprawling. The man screamed and Felix thought he recognised the voice, though it was hard to tell from just a cry of fright. As realization dawned on him, Felix felt suddenly hollow. "Dr Braun?" he said with a groan.

* * *

**These scenes were great fun to write, so I hope you enjoyed reading them**

**By the way. Something I'd like you to advise me on: Am I doing ok with POV (point of view) and what I write in terms of whose perspective I'm writing from at different times? Or do I need to work on that a bit to avoid slipping into the voice of omniscience? If I am jumping around with POV a lot, has it been jarring for you, and had you even noticed it until I pointed it out? If you could answer some of these questions for me, I'd be very grateful, and it'd be a huge help for me. Thank you :)**

**I'll probably try to make the next chapter a bit longer, or include a bit more detail, so we'll see how that goes.**


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